The Cutting Edge

PLANTAS VASCULARES. Although pteridophytes will perhaps never be covered by the Manual as
we know it, we nevertheless decided to include them in our key to “grupos mayores”
(Vol. 2: 1–2), just in case we might someday get around to them. That decision has
already come to haunt us (see this column in our last issue). Now, Manual correspondent and
pteridologist Alan R. Smith (UC) points out a second problem in the very first
statement in the first lead of the first couplet of that key, wherein we characterize pteridophytes
as (in translation) “plants that are disseminated [we won’t go there again!] by means
of unicellular spores…” Strictly speaking, this is not true, as the spores of some
ferns may be two- or even four-celled upon release. The evidence for this (including Alan’s
own work) is strongest for some genera of Grammitidaceae, especially Terpsichore. Alan
also calls our attention to the megaspores of the heterosporous pteridophytes (Azollaceae,
Isoëtaceae, Marsileaceae, Salviniaceae, and Selaginellaceae) which, though initially
unicellular (for a very short time), germinate endoscopically and contain a multicellular
gametophyte by the time they have attained the propagule stage. Okay, so we fudged just a
little!

ALSTROEMERIACEAE. Artist Willow Zuchowski, of Monteverde, maintains that her
illustration on p. 49 of Manual Vol. 2 is mislabeled as Bomarea hirsuta (Kunth) Herb.;
according to Willow, the sp. depicted is actually B. caldasii (Kunth) Asch. & Graebn.,
and was always represented as such by her. We assume (in the absence of a herbarium voucher) that
Willow is correct, and the details of the illustration certainly appear to back her up; however,
we cannot be sure, after so many years, whether our switcheroo was deliberate (perhaps we once
thought the drawing better resembled B. hirsuta) or accidental.

POACEAE. INBio curator Francisco Morales has reacquainted us with Art. 62.4
of the Code, which reads as follows: “Generic names ending in -anthes,
-oides or -odes are treated as feminine and those ending in -ites as
masculine, irrespective of the gender assigned to them by the original author.” Although
we did heed this article in determining the correct gender (feminine) of the orchid genus
Mormodes, we failed to take into account the last part, dealing with -ites
endings. Chico’s interest in this stems from his recent work on Apocynaceae, with genera
such as Anechites, Echites, and Mesechites, all properly masculine
(though often treated incorrectly as feminine). Checking through our already-published Manual
volumes, we find just three errors traceable to our partial ignorance of Art. 62.4, all in Poaceae (authored, ironically, by Chico), and all in the genus Zeugites. The accepted name
Zeugites americana must be corrected to americanus, while Z. a.
var. mexicana and its synonym, Z. mexicana, are both properly mexicanus.
Also subject to this rule is Phragmites, but the sp. epithets used in the Manual have the
same endings in both masculine and feminine gender, and are thus unaffected. We promise to keep
Art. 62.4 in mind for future volumes of the Manual! In our defense, virtually every major regional flora has gotten these endings wrong.